Safe For Gym Or Home Gymnastics Games

Gymnastics is the kind of sport where the athletes start at a very young age. The kids’ attention span are short as compared to adults, so it is important to keep their interest at all times during training, partly to be kept safe and the other part to be able to retain the day’s lessons. Since they are young, we coaches have to adjust to them most of the time. We have learned to incorporate games to warm-up and training sessions to keep the kids’ attention. Here in this article, we are going to share to you these safe for the gym or home gymnastics games.

How The Games Helps

Aside from the obvious reason that it keeps kids interested and active in a gymnastics class, warm-up games are helpful for our kids to get loose and limber prior to an instructional gymnastics exercise. Of course they would begin by stretching, and after this, the games are used to help reduce the children’s risk of pulling a muscle or straining a ligament during a rigorous gymnastics routine.

According to Dr. Sylvia B. Rimm, a psychologist and parenting specialist, when learning activities are combined with games and fun, children love to learn. When it comes to participating in sports, incorporating games into learning and practicing skills keeps kids entertained. Said games have to be creative and fun, as well as a little bit difficult to improve the kids’ fitness components like muscle strength, endurance, flexibility and balance.

And if the kids are not training for some time because of some reasons, the games could still be safe enough to be performed at home with friends. If they play these games at home, they can keep being fit and even improve skills like creativity, problem solving, cooperation, concentration and communication. Games are also an entertaining way to get exercise without the kids realizing it.

List Of Games

It is important to include enjoyment with physical activity so kids grow up realizing that fitness is fun. Coaches have formulated a wide range of games and activities in gymnastics classes. They are not just for warm-up but they are also used in recreational and elite gymnastics to provide down time for the competitive gymnasts.

Here are some of these games:

1. Follow the leader – Of course, this is probably the most common game that can be used to make gymnastics interesting for children. Group all kids in one and one child must do one gymnastics trick that the others must follow. The child who can’t do the skill would be out from the game. A new kid becomes the leader and does a slightly harder skill. Others who cannot do the tricks would be disqualified until one only remains, and that is the winner.

2. Relay games – Group the kids into teams of five members for this game. By doing this, they learn camaraderie and communication with their team members aside from the physical activity they are going to get from this game.

Relays are very versatile as anything could be done with it. It could be a simple run from one end of the gym to the other so their heart rates would increase, or it could be slightly harder. Modify it so instead of simply running, the kids must do handstands, somersaults, leaps, jumps, run on tip-toes, run backwards, or even cartwheels to the other side of the gym.

3. Simon says – This game is great if we as coaches would like to control or see the kids’ skills. We can command them to do a cartwheel or a somersault and if they can’t do it, they’re out of the game. Also, that way we already know what that certain kid can and cannot do so we can focus on training the skill they cannot do.

4. Add-on – This is designed to improve skills and technique on the floor. Have the kids group themselves into two. The first child would do a gymnastics trick and the second kid must do it, immediately adding a new trick at the end. The first kid them does the two tricks and adds a new one at the end. The game continues on this way until one of them forgets the order of the skills or they cannot do one.

Additional tip: if a child wins the game, give them some prizes like a homemade Olympic medal made of cookies!

These are just some of the safe for gym or home gymnastics games we can incorporate into every day training to keep the kids entertained or even when they are stuck at home. At Bianka Panova Sport and Art Academy, we let your kids experience a fun and imaginative gymnastics training. Come and enroll today at the best school for gymnastics in Singapore!

To read more gymnastics-related articles, visit our educational blogs.